


I'm Sorry I Took So Long

by hma1313



Series: The Soulmate AUs [1]
Category: Shameless (US)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, M/M, Reincarnation, Soulmates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-14
Updated: 2016-03-14
Packaged: 2018-05-26 17:45:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,483
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6249457
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hma1313/pseuds/hma1313
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In 1926, Ian's soulmate Mickey told him they couldn't be together. Now it's 2016, Ian's New York Times bestseller that he based on his old life with Mickey is flying off the shelves, and he meets a very familiar face at a book signing.</p>
            </blockquote>





	I'm Sorry I Took So Long

**Author's Note:**

> Or: I finally wrote a soulmate AU.

_Just Admit it by Ian Gallagher spends tenth week at the no. 1 spot for YA lit_

_New York Times exclusive interview with the author of the book that’s changing how we view the world: Ian Gallagher on his international bestseller Just Admit It_

_Ian Gallagher announces US book tour for his bestseller Just Admit It_

_100,000+ copies sold in the first week: we take a look at Just Admit It by Ian Gallagher, the book that’s breaking all the records_

_YA Lit or one for all? Debut novelist Ian Gallagher explains how he views his book Just Admit It as a book for everyone_

_Will you admit it? Here’s ten reasons why you should buy the book that everyone’s talking about: Just Admit It by Ian Gallagher_

* * *

**Chicago, 1926**

“Mickey, _please._ ”

“I can’t, Ian!”

“Yes you can.”

“No I can’t! It doesn’t matter that we’re soulmates or whatever, all my dad is going to see is that you’re not a girl and he’ll kill me for this, he’ll kill me and you as well if he gets half a chance. I can’t let him hurt you, I can’t do this!”

“Mick –”

“Look, I love you, Ian, I really do, but there’s no way this is going to work. I’m sorry things have to end like this but I’m doing us both a favour. See you in the next lifetime, yeah?”

* * *

**New York, 2016**

It had been a long day.

Ian Gallagher had been signing books for well over three hours, his hand cramped up after two and had never really fully recovered, but the end of the line was in sight, so that was something. He was surrounded by stacks of copies of his book _Just Admit It_ , and every time he had to open another copy of the book and look at the dedication – _“For Mickey, always”_ he felt a jolt in his stomach and a tear in his heart for everything that could have been but never was, for a love that never really came to pass, for a love that was everything and nothing all at the same time.

He’d been asked time and time again what inspired his crazily successful debut novel, and time and time again he’d lied to the interviewers. He’d said that he was tired of the media portraying soulmates as the be all and end all of romantic relationships, that he was tired of there being countless movies, TV shows and books focussing on someone trying to find that one person that would complete their life – where were the stories of never meeting that person? Or, even worse, meeting that person and them saying that they can’t do this, that you can’t be together? The interviewers always swallowed the lies, said how forward thinking he was and how it made them question everything they’d been told about soulmates.

And time and time again, Ian would think of what the book was really based on – his previous life, where he’d spent the blissful summer of 1926 with his arms around Mickey Milkovich before his soulmate had told him the news he’d feared was coming, but had hoped would go away anyway: that Mickey couldn’t do this, he couldn’t risk his dad knowing that his soulmate was another man even though same sex relationships were starting to become more and more common within soulmates, that he loved Ian, but they just couldn’t be together in this lifetime.

_See you in the next lifetime, yeah?_

It still hurt, ninety years and reincarnation later. Some of the old folk lore Ian had read when he’d been researching for his book suggested that they were soulmates but they’d never be truly happy together, that soulmates that didn’t end up together in one lifetime would come back so they could become the one that they were supposed to be, that their love would be even stronger in this lifetime than the previous one. Modern research said that this phenomenon – known as “The Fated” – only happened once every ten millionth couple, and it was only the Fated who were reincarnated so they could have the happiness they truly deserved.

He’d been asked if he’d based _Just Admit It_ on the idea of the Fated only once, to which he’d replied yes, as it was something he’d always been fascinated by. He failed to mention that it was about an eighty percent accurate retelling of his previous life, that he was Fated, and that the only things he’d changed were a few names and occasional details so that it was more of a fictional story and less of a historical report.

The line was drawing to an end. Ian put down his pen for a moment and stretched out his muscles in his hand as he waited for the next, and last, book to be put in front of him.

The book was opened at the dedication. It was a proof copy, one sent out to reviewers a couple of weeks ahead of official release, and Ian had no idea how this fan had got their hands on one as there hadn’t been that many made – at the time, his publishers had no idea what impact the book was going to make on the literary world, so they’d kept the number of ARCs down to the minimum.

There was a scrawled note in pencil underneath the dedication.

_I’m sorry I took so long._

“Who do I make it to?” Ian asked, picking up his pen and looking up at the fan. His breath caught in his throat and he dropped his pen because this couldn’t be happening, it just couldn’t – the last time he’d seen those eyes was in 1926, and this couldn’t be real, he was imagining things –

“Mickey.”

That voice. It had been so long, so, so long. It sounded exactly the same, that Chicago accent with a rough edge from countless cigarettes smoked and a lifetime of living in the south side.  Ian picked the pen up again, but his hand was shaking, so he put it down and looked at Mickey. The same hair, the same smile, the same eyes, the same FUCK U-UP tattoos across his knuckles. Mickey raised an eyebrow in a way that only Mickey could, that slightly suggestive, head titled to one side look that Ian hadn’t seen in a lifetime.

“You gonna sign the book or what, Gallagher?”

“Jesus, fuck.” The suit Ian was wearing felt too tight, this room was too hot, his manager was making gestures from the other side of the room that basically translated as _Hurry the fuck up, Gallagher, you’ve got an interview in half an hour_ , the bodyguard standing next to the table was eyeing Mickey with more and more suspicion with every minute that passed and yet all Ian wanted to do was reach across the table and pull Mickey into a hug, but he couldn’t, because there was a strict no contact rule in place for reasons Ian wasn’t entirely sure of but couldn’t argue with.

Ian was holding the pen again. He didn’t know what to write – every book he’d signed so far had just been _To X, best wishes, Ian Gallagher, 14 March 2016_ – but this was different.

_Mickey,_

_I’m sorry I took so long too._

_All my love,_

_Ian Gallagher_

_14 March 2016_

“I love you, Mickey,” Ian mumbled as he passed the book back. Their fingers brushed as the book changed hands and all of a sudden Ian felt like it was 1926 when he’d first touched Mickey for the first time. That electrifying shock that only a few people felt when they touched their soulmate for the first time – another phenomenon that some researchers suggested was related to the Fated.

“You busy now?” Mickey asked as he tucked the book back into the inside pocket of his jacket, one hand still lingering on the table with his fingers intertwined with Ian’s.

“Got an interview for some magazine in…” Ian looked at the time on his phone “…twenty seven minutes.”

“Can you skip it?”

Across the room, Ian’s manager was shaking his head violently. “Yeah,” he said, ignoring his manager and taking Mickey’s hand as he stood up, “I can skip it.”

Mickey’s face broke out into a grin. “Well come on, then, Gallagher. We’ve got some catching up to do.”

* * *

_Ian Gallagher confirms he met his soulmate at a book signing_

_Just Admit It was based on real life events, Ian Gallagher exclusively reveals_

_Meet the real-life Steve and James: Ian Gallagher and Mickey Milkovich_

_10 tell-tale signs: how to tell if you're Fated_

_Movie adaptation of international bestseller Just Admit It by Ian Gallagher confirmed_

**_Mr. I. C. Gallagher and Mr. M. Milkovich_ **

_The engagement is announced between Ian, son of Frank and Monica Gallagher of Chicago, and Mickey, son of Terry and Anna Milkovich, also of Chicago._

**Author's Note:**

> hang out with me on [tumblr](http://pllsetskyonice.tumblr.com/) for a questionable mix of fandoms and ships


End file.
